The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and more particularly to conveyor systems having force-sensitive elements embedded in a conveyor belt to weigh conveyed articles on the fly.
In some applications, individual articles have to be separately weighed while they are being transported on a conveyor belt. Conventional conveyor belt systems first singulate the conveyed articles so that they can be weighed sequentially at a weigh station the belt rides over. Singulating conveyor sections have to be inserted into the conveyor upstream of the weigh station to force the articles into a single file. Adding a singulating section to a conveyor system increases the length of the conveyor layout and reduces the usable width of the conveying surface. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-249591 A, published Sep. 14, 2000, describes load cells in load-detecting units mounted single file atop the chain. And International Application Publication No. WO 2013/028378 A2, published Feb. 28, 2013, describes a conveyor belt with load cells distributed along its length and width. But both those systems require power supplies and transmitters to be located on or in the belt or chain to power the load cells and associated electronics.